Sleeping Pill Use May Aggravate Stomach Ills

MIAMI BEACH — A new study shows that if you have heartburn and can`t sleep, reaching for sleeping pills may make stomach ailments worse, a doctor said Wednesday.

Dr. William C. Orr of Presbyterian Hospital in Oklahoma City, Okla., presented the findings to scientists attending the 50th annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology.

The study said prescription drugs intended to induce sleep instead may act to make gastrointestinal symptoms far worse. In other words, the stomach will growl.

Orr said heartburn results from the backspill of stomach acid into the esophagus. When that happens during sleep the individual normally awakens, a response that leads to clearance of the acid.

But sleeping pills may offset the awakening response, Orr said.

If the person does not wake up, the acidic material will likely remain in the esophagus, ``increasing the risk of medical complications,`` Orr said.

Orr and co-worker Dr. Malcolm G. Robinson administered two of the most commonly prescribed sleeping pills, flurazepam and triazolem, to nine normal volunteers before they went to sleep on three consecutive nights.

Three to five times during sleep, the doctors infused a weak acid solution into the foodpipe and observed how long it took for the acid to clear. They found that the acid cleared much quicker in those who had not taken sleeping pills.